Friction draft-rigging.



E. H. SCHMIDT.

FRICTION DRAFT RIGGING. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3. I9I2. RENiwED FEB. I7l |916.

l, l 92,57 l Patented July 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

/////x/ EI E. H. SCHMIDT.

FRICTION DRAFT RJGGING. APmfcATfoN FILED DEc.3.1912. RENEWED FEB. 17.1916.

l 93,57 l Patented July Q5, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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'9 thereof.

lment 6 has supporting lips 10 which support the cross-.pieces of the member' 7. Between ERNEST H.

CASTINGSCOMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

FRICTION DRAFT-RIGGING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Application led December 3, 1912, Serial No. 734,766.' Renewed February 1'?, 1916. Serial No. 78,962.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, ERNEST H. Sciminrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, have invented a new and Improved *Friction Draftltigging, of which* the following is a specification, reference'being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan partly in section of my improved rigging, showing its application to the frames of a car; Fig. 2 shows the rigging in section on lines 1I-II of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a detail of the central friction member; Fig. 4 is a section on broken lines lV-IV of Fig.v .1; Fig. 5l is a section on broken lines V-V of Fig. 1, and F ig. (l is a section on diagonal lilies Vl-Vl of Fig. 5. Fig-7 shows a moditiedform of the friction member. v

My invention relates to friction draft rigging vand provides a device in which the frictional elements are comprised of a plurality of friction shoes and a. central friction member, and in which friction shoes are adapted Ato be wedged inwardly against the central member preferably b y a plu-. rality of wedge members, the friction shoes and wedge members beingpreferably arranged alternately and in tandem. My device is also designed to distribute the amount of frictional work done by the successive sets of frictional elements and to equalize the intensity of pressure upon the frictional surfaces of the said elements.

Referring to the drawings 2 indicates a follower preferably in the form of a case having. a cylindrical bore. and an enlargedy portion 3, preferably formed integrally therewith, which'is rectangular in shape, and which is designed to abut against the draft sill stops fl, which are attached to the draft sills 5 of the car structure. ltlxtending forwardly from the rear wall of the case and centrally located therein is a hollow abutment G, upon which is positioned the central' friction member 7, which is preferably .cross-shaped in cross-section. The cross-shaped member 7 has a rearwardly extending portion 8,' which is preferably secured tothe abutment by upsetting the end The forward end of the abutthe crossmieces oftlemember 7 are located `lower 15, and the ,wedges 13 and 14 have sets of friction shoes or `segments 11. and 12, each set being preferably comprised offour segments. The sets of segments 11 and 12 are held against the central friction member 7 by the Mf'edgingrings 13, 1-1 and the folrearwardly and outwardly inclined wet ging faces 16 which bear against correspondmg wedging faces 17 of the segments. The forward faces 18 of the wedging ring 111 and follower 15 are angled at an angle corresponding to the angle of the rear faces v19 of the segments 11 and 12. I

Arranged about the exterior of the abutment 6 is a compression spring 20 which abuts at its rear end against the case, and at its forward end against the follower 1.5. l/Vithin the case 2 and arranged about its bore are a plurality of pockets 211'i'i'i` which are located the .plungers 22 having springs 23 arranged thereon andcentered at their rear ends upon projections 24 on the rear end of the casing and at their forward ends against shoulders 25 on the plungers The forward ends of the plungers 22 are adapted to come in contact with the lugs 26 on'the foremost wedge ring 13, and the shoulders 25 are adapted subsequently to come in contact with the lugs 27 on a succeeding wedge ring 14. l

28 is a front follower bearing against the foremost wedge ring 13.

29 is the coupler-butt, and 30 are the forward draft sill stops secured-to the draft sills 5.

The foremost set of segments 11 have \\'ed, ,{in faces which are angled less acutely to the central friction member than the wedging faces of the Asucceeding set, and the bearing surfaces of each set are varied so as to be substantially in proportion to the total wedging or compressing action, which that set receives from the wedge ring arranged forwardly of it. `The acuteness of the wedging angles, however, must not be carried tosuch an extent that there will be a failure to release the wedging faces after butling or draft. By giving each 'set of segments and its coacting wedge ring wedgingr angles of the proper inclination with relation to the resistance to the rearward movement of that. set, the wedging pressures of the segments near the spring are relatively increased and the pressures upon the outer wedging angles above described, I overcome any such variation by giving tocachset of segments a frictional bearing surface,

which is substantially proportional to the' total .compression force it receives, sothat for any given area of the compression member or segments bearing thereagamst, the

pressure thereon is substantially uniforn with other similar areas and the compressive pressures are distributed more evenly over the length of the frictional surfaces of the central friction member. Thus, as the wear is uniform upon the parts, the life of the parts of the rigging, the segments and the central friction member; is greatly increased. y

The operation of my draft rigging is as follows: `When the coupler receives a buffing shock, this shock is transmitted through the coupler-butt 29 and the front followerl 23, to the foremost wedge ring 13, which 4 may be integral with the front follower, and which is caused to move rearwardly and to enter the casing 2, the rear end of the casing being held from rearward' movement relative to the car by the rear stops 4, which are attached to the draft sills 5. The wedge ring 13 transmitsthis pressure by an inward .wedging action to the foremost set of segments 11, and this pressure -is transmitted to the wedge ring 14, and from the wedge ring 1st to the succeeding set of segments 12, and from the segments 12 to the follower 15, and thence to the spring, and the entire series of wedges and segments is caused to move rearwardly within the casing as the wedge ring 13 enters the forward end of the casing. The rearward movement ofthe series of segmental rings is resisted by thev compression spring 20, which bears at its rear end against the casing and at its forward end vagainst the follower 15, and this resistance is transmitted successively through the follower 15, the segments 12, the wedge 14E and the segments 11, causing a powerful frictional engagement between the interior surfaces of the segments and the surfaces of the central friction member 7, thus exhausting the force of the bufiing shock. By

reason ofthe relatively blunt wedging angles of the 4foremost set of segments 11, this set does not do as great a proportion of the total frictional work as it would if the wedging angles of the sets were equahcand `by reason of its relatively large area lo fric( and especially of,

tional bearing surface against the friction member, the intensity of pressure thereon is considerably7 reduced. The succeeding set of segments 12, which has less pressure behindit to resist the rearward movement of`l` 7c the parts, hasa more acute .wedging angle than the foremost set, and each set has a frictional bearing area substantially proportional to the wedging pressure put upon it. Thus, by varying the area of the frictional bearing surface and `the, acuteness of the wedging angle, each set of lsegments does the desired amount of work, and the pressure exerted on the succeeding sets of segthe member is thus substantially equalized.

The frictional engagement of the segments 11 and 12 and the surfaces of the central friction melnber increases progressively since, as the Lwedges and segments move rearwardly, tlie compression spring 20 bears4 with increasingpressure on the follower 15,v and t-hispressure is transmitted thereby to the other parts.

liVhen the rigging is under draft, the casing 2 will move forwardly and as the front follower 28 is. held against forward movement by the draft sill stops 30, this forward action of the casing is resisted'by the spring 20, which' forces the follower 15 into engagement with the rearmost segments 12, and causes the same relative movement and progressively increasing frictional engagement between the segments and the cen-` tral friction member as when the draft rig- 100 ging is under bufting shock. After buliing.A or draft, the springs 23 drii forwardly the releasing plungers 22 and with them the foremost wedge ring 13 by its lugs 26, 'and the'foremost wedge ring will carry with it 105 the front follower 28. The shoulders 25 on the plungers 22 are preferably so arranged that, after the wedging engagement between i the wedge ring 13 and the segments 11 vhas been released, they will strike the lugs l27 110 on the succeeding wedge ring 14 and will drive it forward thus giving a successive releasing action.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a modified form ofthe friction member 31 having three rra- 115 dially extending-arms 32, and concave friction surfaces -33 between the arms 32, which is adapted for use with correspondingly shaped friction segments or shoes.

The use of a centrally located friction 120 member against which the 'friction shoes bear, is ofqgreat advantage since it removes all bursting stresses L"rein the casing ',iiiid since thegfrictional pressures are concentrated upfm the member uniformly, thus U5 giving an equally/.ed compression upon it at any givenI point.

It -is ol vious that i-n my device any de-4 sired nuli ber of sets of segments and of wedgingrings may be used and'that other IW variations'may be made in the arrangement and construction of my device, without departing from my invention, since What' I claim is:

l. In frictional shock absorbing mechanism, a longitudinally-extending included friction member, a set of friction shoes ar .ranged about1 said friction member and adapted to contact frictionally therewith, cach shoe having a wedgingface inclined in :substantially the same direction as the wedg ing faces on the other shoes, wedgin'g means co-acting with the wedging face of each shoe for `wedging the shoes against the friction member, a compression spring, and a release ing spring cooperating with the wedging means to return the parts to normal position after buiiing or draft.

2. Iny frictional shock absorbing mechanism, a friction member lhaving a plurality of outwardly radiating arms, sets of friction shoes located, between said arms, wedg'- ing members completely surrounding said `ber, wedges engaging'the friction segments,

a compression spring, pockets in the case containing mechanism for actuating the wedges to release the wedging engagement between the wedges and the friction segments.

5. In frictional .shock absorbing mechanism, a friction member having a plurality of outwardly radiating arms forming with each other rentrant angles, a plurality of friction shoes, each seating' in a rentrant angle, a wedge in engagement with said shoes, said1 wedge being in the form of a i continuous ringv completely encircling said friction member, and a compression spring.

6..In frictional shock absorbing mechanism, a longitudnally-arranged friction member of Vstar shape in cross section, friction shoes seated against said friction member, a wedge ring completely encircling said.

friction member and in engagement with said shoes, a compression sprlng for cansmg progressive wedging engagement of said wedge and shoes, and additional springA means reacting only against said wedge for releasing the wedging engagement.

7. In frictionall shock absorbing mechanism, a friction member having at least three radially disposed and outwardly-extending arms, sets of friction shoes, one shoe of each set being seated between each adjacent pair of arms, wedge members in the form of rings completely encircling said friction member, 1n engagement with each set of shoes, and a compression spring.

8. In frictional shock` absorbing mechanism, a friction member having a plurality of outwardly radiating arms, sets of friction shoes located between said arms, inexpansible wedging members capable of resisting outward pressure in contact with said friction shoes, said sets of shoes and wedges being arranged alternately and in tandem, and a compression spring, substantially as describe 9. In frictional shock absorbing mechanism, a centrally located or included friction member having radiating arms, sets of friction shoes seated between said arms, wedge members completely surrounding said Yincluded friction member, in wedging engagement rwith said sets of shoes and capa.n ble in themselves of sustaining outward pressure, said wedges and sets of shoes being arranged alternately and in tandem, compression spring, and means for releasing the wedging action between said wedges and sets of shoes. o h

. ERNEST Il.. SCIlli/HDT. Witnesses: HARRY E. ORB, Cnns'rns K. Broons.

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